New Camo Arrives in Afghanistan
Posted By Bouhammer on November 13, 2009
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Military.com|
The Army has revealed which units in Afghanistan received experimental camouflage uniforms designed specifically for Afghanistan’s varied terrain.
Col. Bill Cole, the program manager for Soldier individual equipment at Fort Belvoir, Va., told Military.com that the 3rd Squadron of the 61st Cavalry Regiment had been issued the “Universal Camouflage Pattern-Delta” uniforms designed by the Natick Soldier Systems Center in Massachusetts, and that Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment have been issued MultiCam duds.
This is the first time the affected units have been identified by official sources.
Both battalion-sized units operate in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, which features rocky, sub-Alpine terrain and lush green river valleys – an environment that some argue is unsuited for the Army’s current universal pattern because it stands out against the more forested backgrounds.
After initially resisting the move, the service relented to calls from Congress and within the military to seriously look at how “universal” the Army’s current camo is given the varied terrains where U.S. troops are fighting, particularly in Afghanistan.
A 2009 study by Natick buttressed claims by UCP critics that the all-terrain pattern fell short; the Crye Precision-made MultiCam performed better than the UCP in seven of nine environments.
In September, the service announced a plan to study how well their uniforms match up to Afghanistan’s environment. Those results could cause the Army to make a wholesale return to issuing different uniforms for different terrain.
Cole said the cavalrymen will wear uniforms and helmet covers in the UCP-D, which looks similar to the current UCP but with more coyote brown sprinkled in, while keeping their standard UCP plate carriers. The unit will also receive a new chest rig that attaches to the plate carrier patterned in the experimental UCP-D.
Soldiers issued the MultiCam ensemble will don full-MultiCam uniforms and helmet covers and will be issued MultiCam-patterned plate carriers and molle pouches. About half the UCP-D chest rigs and MultiCam molle has been issued, and Joes should begin receiving their MultiCam plate carriers next week, Cole said.
A small team from the Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier is in Afghanistan to help issue the new uniforms and track any problems that crop up. Natick is in the midst of collecting data from an initial survey of the uniforms and their effectiveness in the combat zone and will conduct another one in mid-December, once the uniforms have been used in operations.
Cole said, given the mission and terrain they’ll be required to operate in, it’s up to the unit commanders to decide which uniform the troops should wear on patrol.
This is similar to a recent post about the color of IFVs like the Bradley and Stryker. It’s wasted money pure and simple. Divert these funds to aspects of the COIN effort which actually produces results. I.E. Taliban KIAs. This war could be won if we stop chasing our tail on bullshit projects like camouflage and color schemes and get the warfighters focused on closing with and killing the enemy.
Crye’s “Multicam” pattern won the competition before the army bought the ACU pattern. For whatever reason (just like when Sam bought the M60 MG) they choose the loosing product.
8 years later we start reinventing the wheel . . . again. Well, field grades need to check the “Made a change” block (after all who is this really all about).